Meat Loaf Announces Farewell ‘Last at Bat’ Tour

Meat Loaf may have suggested his touring career was concluding as far back as 2007, but the rocker is finally and apparently ready to say farewell to at least one nation. The vocalist has just announced the 'Last at Bat' tour of the U.K., which is intended to be his final trek in the country.

The musician has described the tour as his "final goodbye" to his U.K. fans and he's making the shows something special as a result. The performance will be split into two parts. The first is expected to focus on hits from throughout his career, while the latter portion will be a full performance of his 1977 album 'Bat Out of Hell' in its entirety.

Covering 'Bat Out of Hell' is an obvious choice as the disc sold over 45 million records for the singer. Meat Loaf says, "When Jim [Steinman] and I first came together, we couldn't have dreamt the profound effect 'Bat Out of Hell' would have on both our lives and the lives of our fans around the world … This show promises to be an exciting event. I know the fans will enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed putting it together." Meat Loaf will follow the U.K. shows with a trek through Germany, and it's unclear as of this writing exactly when his last concert date will be.

Meat Loaf recently had knee surgery to make sure he would be ready for touring again. His fall North American tour, the 'Mad Mad World' trek, ran into scheduling difficulty when the East Coast run coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. Four New York-area shows were canceled indefinitely as a result. The singer made headlines during his summer 2011 tour by passing out on stage on two different occasions, and declared in August that he would rather die during a performance than reduce his tour schedule.